Timo Vollbrecht

TETHER TRIO is the new, genre-crossing project of the renowned jazz singer Theo Bleckmann and the internationally active saxophonist Timo Vollbrecht (both from New York). Together with the Amsterdam pianist Harmen Fraanje, they combine explorative improvisation and melody-led songs in a deeply personal trio sound. They expand the natural timbres of their acoustic instruments with the subtle use of live electronic processing, while giving their music enough space to breathe and unfold.
After performing together at the Fair International Music Festival Tehran (Iran) in 2021, Bleckmann and Vollbrecht decided to further develop their immediate synergy and work together on new music. The resulting TETHER TRIO derives its name from the fusion of musical ideas that allow these three free-thinking musicians to merge into a whole.

Based in Brooklyn and rooted in Berlin, Timo Vollbrecht prefers to play at the intersection of composed and improvised music. According to the New York City Jazz Record, he is a “brilliant German saxophonist and bandleader whose music shines with rhythmic finesse and elegant modulations.” Musically, Vollbrecht follows his very own path, pursuing a carefully conceived vision of sound. It balances emotional expressiveness and lively energy with wonderful simplicity. The result is a sound that comes across as nuanced rather than boldly showy and creates strong emotional images in its restrained persistence. His melodious compositions transcend genre boundaries by combining jazz with elements of post-rock, indie, new music, experimental and instrumental songwriting. Vollbrecht is celebrated for his warm, timbral sound, in which “you can wrap yourself up like in a warm blanket” (JazzThing).

FLY MAGIC is the name of his band, which has released three albums to date, tours the globe and performs at festivals in Europe, the USA, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America. It consists of four outstanding improvisers from the New York and Berlin scenes. Their creative drive stems from the explosive intersection of different styles and cultural origins, as their second album FACES IN PLACES (Berthold Records, 2018) shows. The album tells the stories of ten acquaintances the musicians made during their worldwide concert tours and takes the listener to encounters with Mala from Malaysia, Muhammad from Syria and Tiffany from Singapore. Previously, they released FLY MAGIC (Berthold Records, 2016), a record of the same name that Jazzpodium magazine named “one of the outstanding recordings by a German musician in 2016”.

The third album was also released by Berthold records in October 2022 and is entitled: GIVERS & TAKERS. Effortlessly layering acoustic and electronic timbres, this record presents music that is unpretentious and adventurous. The title refers to two aspects of Vollbrecht’s thoughts on music: “Music is first and foremost a social practice,” he explains, “it’s about community, a network of people sharing experiences and inspiring each other to innovate. We are trained to treat intrinsic qualities such as melody, harmony and rhythm in isolation from their context. We forget that the things around them – social environment, connectivity and emotion – are just as much a part of the fabric of music.” The album emerges from this human interactivity. It features four musically synergistic friends from different backgrounds entering into an improvisational dialog characterized by mutual trust. Give and take is a natural part of this process.